It is common for company and Government offices alike to mail notices to customers and area residents that may require a reply by the recipient. Where the reply includes confidential or semi-confidential information it is appropriate for the reply to be enclosed in an envelope. Where confidential or semi-confidential information is not included in the reply, such as where the reply is a questionnaire or notice of address change, the reply may be in the form of a postcard. This reduces postage charges for the reply. Indeed, postal rates for first class mailings differ substantially between letters and postcards. For non-automation mailings the difference in rates is currently $0.15. This provides a significant incentive to utilize postcards for a wide variety of specialized mailings.
It may be desirable for the outgoing mailer, including the notice or statement and the reply postcard, to itself qualify as a postcard to realize postal mail savings for a postcard versus first class mail.
A duplex printed postcard using 007 inch cardstock has been developed for this purpose and is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,134, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference. While the '134 patent discloses a double postcard structure that comprises a notable advantage and improvement in the art, it would be desirable to provide a double postcard structure for which a postcard production can be accomplished with simplex (1 side) printing.
In one example, the present disclosure provides a double postcard (2-way postcard) pressure seal form construction that may be provided either as a single cut sheet 6×14 inch or continuous 2-up 12×14 inch of, e.g., 28# paper. Unlike the 7 point two way paper postcard of the '134 patent, in the form construction of the disclosure variable and non-variable information are simplex printed on the front side of the form concurrently or in series. The backside of the form contains pressure seal cohesive chemistry to bond together and define a double postcard structure when folded in half. Suitable cohesive spots are also applied to the front of the form to permit closure of the double postcards to define a postcard mailer.
The present disclosure thus provides a United States Postal Service (“USPS”) postcard mailer with return postcard from a single sheet of, e.g., 28# paper utilizing pressure seal cohesive material. This maybe accomplished by applying cohesive material in a unique pattern and then folding the 28# pattern into a double V-fold construction to create the return receipt postcard required by and meeting the requirements of the USPS.